This Sunday we can look at both Isaiah and Peter, who were so convinced
that their sinfulness made them unworthy to speak the word of the Lord to
others. They are wonderful examples for us, who also try to follow the
Lord Jesus.

Isaiah receives some kind of vision of the holiness of God and becomes
terrified because he sees his own unworthiness so much more clearly.
Perhaps we can identify with Isaiah. That doesn't mean that we have to
have some overpowering vision of the Lord but simply some sense of the
immensity and incredible love and compassion of God. Even if we just think
about those realities and meditate on them a little, we can perhaps
understand our own unworthiness even though we know that God loves us.

Peter is always the apostle who is very human, very normal and who denies
the Lord in lots of ways, just as we do. Peter is a fisherman and knows
how to fish. So when Jesus tells him what to do, he is not immediately
ready to follow the advice of the Lord. What could the Lord know about
fishing? Is not Jesus the son of the carpenter and know the work of a
carpenter and not of a fisherman? But finally he says to the Lord: if you
tell me to do it, I will do it.

That last part is the most important part. Peter is always clear that
when he knows that the Lord is asking something of Him and when the Lord is
right in front of him asking, he will do what is asked.

Jesus has left us the commandment of love. If He were right in front of
us, telling us that a particular action needs to be done, we might well
obey Him. But because normally Jesus does not appear that way in our
lives, we can find ourselves being less than diligent in seeking His will
and less than faithful in doing it.

We can pray in the spirit of Saint Paul in today's second reading that
God's grace will be effective in us, that no matter how often we are
unfaithful that we may recognize God's faithfulness to us. Let us give
thanks for the graces given to us each day and may we deepen in our
faithfulness to God's gifts. The More we trust Him, the more He can do
through us.